Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter’s announcement that the United States will deploy more special operations forces to Iraq to “conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture ISIL leaders” is a significant step in the U.S. campaign against ISIS (also called ISIL). In addition to aiding Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, this “specialized expeditionary targeting force” will be able to conduct unilateral operations into Syria, Carter said. This counterterrorism capability will help increase the pressure on ISIS, degrading their network and hindering their ability to launch attacks in the region and abroad.

Over time, direct counterterrorism efforts, whether through raids or airstrikes, must be supplemented with capable, legitimate partner forces on the ground that can retake and hold territory from ISIS. But this will require a fundamental shift in the politics on the ground. In western Iraq that means either working directly with the local Sunni tribes or giving them confidence that in the long run that they will not be marginalized by a Shia dominated Iraqi central government with a sectarian agenda. In eastern Syria, the challenge is whether U.S. special operations forces can build upon the relationships they’ve established with Kurdish fighters and, most importantly, bring in a much more significant Sunni and Arab element that can take and hold territory around Raqqa.

Over the long term, U.S. special operations forces can have significant impact in building the capacity of local Sunni Arab partners to not only clear ISIS from the areas it controls in eastern Syria and western Iraq, but also able to bring socio-politically stability to these territories after their liberation. But this approach can only work if it is complemented with an effective strategy to end the multi-sectarian civil war in western Syria that has also become a proxy war embroiling a number of regional and global actors.

Goldenberg, Scharre, and Heras are available for interviews. To arrange an interview, please contact Neal Urwitz at nurwitz@cnas.org or 202-457-9409.